The disclosure relates to a sliding-pivoting mechanism of a shelf of a piece of furniture or a domestic appliance for pulling out or raising the shelf from a body of the furniture or from a useful space of a domestic appliance. The disclosure further relates to a piece of furniture as well as a domestic appliance with a sliding-pivoting mechanism.
Such sliding-pivoting mechanisms may be installed for facilitating the use of pieces of furniture or domestic appliances, especially dishwashers or cooking appliances. A shelf installed in such a piece of furniture or domestic appliance can be moved by means of a sliding-pivoting mechanism from a bottom position by pulling out and subsequent upward pivoting to an upward position in which a user can conveniently place items on the shelf or remove items placed on said shelf.
A generic sliding-pivoting mechanism is known for example from WO 2014/03 3092 A1.
The sliding-pivoting mechanism described there has proven its worth in practice.
It is problematic that when the shelf is subjected to heavy loads, the locking of the sliding-pivoting mechanism in the upper position in which the shelf is positioned in the lifted position for convenient loading and unloading does not always occur in a reliable manner.
The present disclosure is directed to a sliding-pivoting mechanism in which the locking of the sliding-pivoting mechanism is improved.
The sliding-pivoting mechanism in accordance with the disclosure comprises a rotatably fixed first and second pivot arm which is fastened to at least one of the side walls of the body of the piece of furniture or of the useful space of the domestic appliance by means of a first end parallel to the plane of the side walls. The pivot arms are arranged in parallel at a distance from each other. A guide rail is pivotably fastened to the respective second ends of the pivot arms parallel to the plane of the side walls in such a way that the guide rail can be pivoted from a bottom position within the body or the useful space to a lifted, upper position at least partly outside the body or the useful space. The shelf is fastened to a running rail which can be moved linearly on or in the guide rail. An activator is further fixed to said running rail. A locking mechanism of the sliding-pivoting mechanism arranged on the guide rail and on one of the pivot arms can be actuated with said activator, which locking mechanism is used for preventing a pivoting movement of the sliding-pivoting mechanism in a lifted and lowered end position. A support element is arranged in a stationary manner on the first pivot arm, which support element interacts with a guide bevel of the activator and with which the locking mechanism can be moved during lifting of the sliding-pivoting mechanism to a locking position which secures the lifted end position, wherein one end of the guide bevel of the activator which is disposed at the front in the pull-out direction is formed as a limit stop.
This support element allows the user in a simple way to push the shelf slightly against the pull-out direction during lifting of the shelf to the lifted end position shortly before reaching the lifted end position.
The thus associated movement of the activator along the support element produces reliable locking of the locking mechanism and supports secure reaching of the end position of the shelf that is necessary for the locking.
The front end of the guide bevel of the activator, which is formed in the pull-out direction as a limit stop, is used for limiting a displacement of the running rail against the pull-out direction up to the lifted end position of the sliding-pivoting mechanism, in which the locking mechanism has reached the locking position. This prevents excessive insertion of the shelf prior to reaching the lifted end position of the shelf.
According to one embodiment of the disclosure, the locking mechanism comprises a web with a pin protruding in the direction of the guide rail, which web is pivotably and resiliently mounted on one of the pivot arms and can be guided along a guide element to the guide rail from the locking position securing the lowered end position at least to the locking position securing the lifted end position.
According to an embodiment, these locking positions are defined in such a way that locking grooves are provided in the guide element in which the pin rests in the respective locking positions. During the lifting or lowering movement of the sliding-pivoting mechanism, the pin is guided along a guide track which is limited at its ends by locking grooves, which enables a precise coordination of the sequence of movement of the pivot arms.
According to an embodiment, the support element is formed as a pin protruding from the first pivot arm. The pin can be fastened to the support element as a separate component or can alternatively be integrally attached to the pivot arm as a part thereof.
According to an alternative embodiment, the support element is formed as a wheel which protrudes from the first pivot arm and can be rotated about a rotational axis oriented perpendicularly to a plane spanned by the pivoting movement of the pivot arms, so that during lifting of the shelf to its lifted end position may be only necessary to overcome rolling friction of the rotatable wheel, which further improves smooth running of the sliding-pivoting mechanism.
Furthermore, the activator comprises a first stop according to a preferred embodiment, with which the pin can be moved from a position blocking a pivoting movement of the pivot arms in the first locking groove when pulling the running rail in a pull-out direction A.
In order to move the pin from the second locking groove and from the position which produces locking in the lifted position, the activator may comprise a web which is inclined in the manner of a ramp in the pull-out direction, with which the pin can be moved out when pulling out the running rail in a pull-out direction.
This allows the user in a simple manner, by slightly pulling the shelf in the pull-out direction, to overcome the locking of the sliding-pivoting mechanism, so that the shelf can be pivoted from the lifted position to the lowered position or vice versa.